


for you (there's nothing in this world i wouldn't do)

by onceandfuturewarlock



Series: tumblr prompts [4]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-25
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:53:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27707923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onceandfuturewarlock/pseuds/onceandfuturewarlock
Summary: Prompt: Merlin gets shot by an arrow and almost dies, so Arthur lets Gaius use magic to heal him. When Merlin wakes up, Gaius tells him what Arthur did, and Merlin has to figure out how to bring it up with Arthur.
Relationships: Merlin & Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Series: tumblr prompts [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2026366
Comments: 25
Kudos: 140





	for you (there's nothing in this world i wouldn't do)

**Author's Note:**

> "Hey, brother,   
> There's an endless road to rediscover,  
> Hey, sister,  
> Know the water's sweet,   
> But blood is thicker,  
> Oh, if the sky comes falling down,  
> For you, there's nothing in this world I wouldn't do."
> 
> \- "Hey, Brother", Avicii

"You're joking," Merlin said, blankly, even as his spoon slipped from his slack fingers, and dropped down into his bowl with a soft clink, and a small splash of stew, even as he thought _but Gaius wouldn't joke about a thing like this, of course Gaius wouldn't joke about a thing like this, Gaius doesn't joke about much of anything_. "Y-You've got to be—you must be joking—"

"Oh?" Gaius arched that damned brow at him, sharp and stern and just that side of dead serious. "And how do _you_ think you're up and about—" in a tone that left no doubt as to his feelings on that, "—after taking a _poisoned arrow_ to the shoulder only yesterday?"

"You're joking," Merlin said, again, on reflex now, and he scrubbed with the hem of his sleeve at the stew he'd spilled on the edge of the table, mostly to give himself a bit more time to think. "You're joking, Gaius, you know as well as _I_ do Arthur wouldn't—you know he'd _never_ —"

"Well, there wasn't much choice, Merlin," Gaius bowed his white head down over his own bowl and added, quiet and grim and entirely under his breath, "For either of us."

Merlin dropped his eyes back to the table, a hard, heavy knot in the back of his throat. "I-I'm sorry." He stuck his spoon back in his stew and stirred a few times. He couldn't seem to look at Gaius. "I'm sorry you had to take such a risk for me."

"I'm not," Gaius said at once, without so much as a hint of hesitation. "Not for a moment." He reached out across the table to take Merlin's hand in his own, with a quick, light squeeze, and a warm smile.

Even with the guilt like ice in his stomach, Merlin smiled back.

"And I daresay Arthur isn't, either," Gaius' brow climbed a little higher. "So stop fretting for a moment, and eat your stew before it gets cold."

Merlin glanced down in his bowl and hastily spooned a bite in his mouth—he knew good and well he would get no answers to all his thousand questions if he didn't get at least a bit of food in him first. God knew Gaius could be as stubborn as Arthur. "But how on earth—" Merlin put his spoon down again, "—did you manage to convince him? Arthur? What in God's name did you _say_?"

Gaius looked pointedly back down at Merlin's bowl.

Merlin obediently shoveled another bite in. "Well?" He swallowed a thick lump of mushy potato and carrot. "What happened?"

Gaius seemed to realize this was the best he was going to get, because he merely sighed deeply, and pushed his own bowl to the side. "He hardly needed much convincing, Merlin. You were already too far gone for ordinary remedies, and he knew it."

"And he agreed? Just like that?" Merlin blinked and leaned back a bit in his seat. "You _can't_ be serious, Gaius, Arthur wouldn't turn to magic even if his life was hanging by a thread."

Gaius only looked at him. "But it wasn't _his_ life that was hanging by a thread, Merlin, was it?"

* * *

"What on earth are _you_ doing here?" Arthur said, rather rudely, in Merlin's opinion, when he pushed open the door, and walked inside with the king's dinner in his hand.

"I work here," Merlin pointed out, and put the meal down, with a light little thud, on the desk in front of Arthur. "Unless you decided to sack me for getting poisoned." His mouth felt too dry and his palms felt too clammy and his heart felt far too fast where it pounded and pumped in his chest. "Which I'm pretty sure is contestable in court of law."

Arthur snorted. "Gaius has let you off bedrest rather early, hasn't he?"

Merlin truly wouldn't put it past the old man to burst in, grab him 'round the ears, and drag him all the way back to his room when he got home and saw the empty cot upstairs. "Sure," he said.

Arthur narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth—

"He told me what you did," Merlin blurted, too quick, too clumsy, his hands shaking and his heart in his throat. "Gaius. H-He told me what you did."

Arthur didn't un-narrow his eyes, but he did pick up his fork and stab a bite of chicken, and that was good enough. "I didn't do anything," he said simply. "It was all Gaius." He looked up from his plate, blue eyes dark and solemn. "He saved your life, Merlin."

"Right," Merlin said, breathlessly, and maybe if Gaius burst in _right now_ and grabbed him 'round the ears and dragged him back to his room, it wouldn't be so bad after all. "Right." He swallowed, and licked his lips, and tugged lightly at the ragged hem of his red scarf. "Using magic."

Arthur's fingers tensed around the fork, but he didn't look away. "Right," he said, admirably evenly. "Using magic."

"Right," Merlin said lamely. He wanted very much to collapse in the nearest chair, or turn around and run right back to Gaius' chambers, but his legs wouldn't let him move.

And, unbelievably, Arthur chuckled. "Well, don't look so scared," he balled up his napkin in one fist, and tossed it at Merlin. "It's _Gaius_. He'd never do you harm."

"N-No," Merlin said numbly. "No, of course not. I know that."

"Look," Arthur put his fork back down on the plate with a sharp scrape, "I know you're terrified of magic—"

"I'm—?" Merlin blinked. He stepped back a bit. "I'm _what_?"

"Don't deny it," Arthur waved a dismissive hand at him. "Bravery doesn't suit you, Merlin."

"A-Arthur," and, God help him, Merlin almost _laughed_ —it was simply too ridiculous— "I'm not afraid of magic. It doesn't bother me what Gaius did to—"

Arthur huffed out a soft chuckle. _Again_. "You go white as a sheet at the mere mention of it, Merlin, I think it's safe to say—"

Merlin really _did_ laugh now, and far too hard, he knew—he had gotten the whole, horrible thing over with, and Arthur wasn't angry with Gaius, and he wasn't going on about the ills and evils of sorcery, and he thought Merlin was _afraid of magic_. The sheer, sharp _relief_ of it all made him shaky and dizzy and so giddy, he hardly felt like himself. "Right," he said, finally, a breathless gasp, "right, Arthur, no, you're right."

And he _did_ collapse in the nearest chair now. His entire body felt rather like he was made entirely of jelly.

Arthur looked a touch puzzled, but a definite grin played at the edge of his lip. "Right," he grabbed up his fork again, and crammed the chicken in his mouth, "can't hide anything from me, Merlin."

Merlin smothered a snort in his fist. "Wouldn't dream of it, Sire."


End file.
